Entrepreneurs gear up for further Sino-German cooperation

YINCHUAN — Despite having visited Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, several times, Philipp Prang, commercial director of Big Dutchman China, remains "very interested in this modern city".

"We have already established good cooperation with some agricultural companies in Ningxia and also want to make new friends and collaborate with more Chinese agricultural enterprises," said Prang.

Established in 1938, German firm Big Dutchman is one of the world's largest suppliers of feeding systems and holding pens for hogs and poultry.

After some 30 years of development in China, the company's customers and suppliers have grown across the country, and sales branches have been set up in many Chinese cities, such as Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and Chengdu, Sichuan province.

"The continuous expansion of China's opening-up gives us confidence in the Chinese market. In the future, we will further deepen cooperation with various regions in China, promoting rural revitalization and sustainable agricultural development," said Prang.

Big Dutchman is among several German firms optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese market.

"We believe Ningxia is a very open province with a solid foundation for cooperation with Germany. It places great emphasis on the elder care industry, and therefore, we have great confidence in its development," said Zhang Xin, chief development officer of Renafan (Beijing) Advisory Services Ltd.

As a leading German institution engaged in medical and nursing services for the elderly, Renafan successfully operates 24 elder care institution projects in China.

During the China (Ningxia)-German Week for Friendship and Cooperation held in February in Yinchuan, cooperation agreements for 19 projects were inked between companies from Germany and Ningxia.

The projects, worth about 157 million yuan ($21.7 million), range from elder care services and equipment manufacturing to education and culture.

"We have been impressed by the huge variety of potential business cooperation between German and Chinese companies in the area of agriculture," said Susanne Rademacher, a member of the board of directors of the German Chamber of Commerce, at the event.

German direct investment in China increased by 4.3 percent to a record 11.9 billion euros ($12.65 billion) last year, accounting for over 10 percent of the country's overall investments abroad, according to exclusive analysis from the IW Institute based on official data from Germany's central bank.

"China is a crucial market. We believe that only through mutual cooperation can the people of China and Germany progress together," said Tohermes Yves, managing director of Germany's ADT Project Consulting GmbH.

Xinhua